Friendship Is Magic: The Gathering Sparks
by Warhawk Talon
Summary: Princess Luna spoke with the voice of prophecy: "Five become one, a Spark will ignite, for the student of the sun, who brought back the light. Born of a world with no spells, he awakens his power. An army of warriors and angels, train him for the dark hour. Together they rise, to face the coming fire. They search for allies, to face the dragon's ire."
1. A Spark Ignited

"Muahahaha! Hahahahaha!" Nightmare Moon, dark alicorn of the night, laughed as she brought her hooves down on the five ancient relics. The five Elements of Harmony, containing the only magic strong enough to stop her, were shattered. "You little _foal_, thinking you could defeat me!" She mocked the young unicorn who lay on the palace floor in front of her. Now you will never see your princess, or your sun. The night, will last, FOREVER! MUAHAHAHAH!"

The unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, favored student of Princess Celestia, was in shock at the destruction of daylight's only hope. How could she have come so close, to fail at just the last moment? Why hadn't the sixth Element appeared?

Then Twilight heard something over Nightmare Moon's echoing laughter. She heard the voices of the five ponies who had helped her get so far.

"Don't worry Twilight! We'll be there!"

They were the five ponies who she had grown to care for during their shared adventure. And now, she realized, they would once again help her overcome what was impossible to do alone.

She turned back to face the dark princess, standing as tall as she could with newfound confidence. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well you're wrong, because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony, are right _here!"_ She declared as her companions stood behind her.

The stone fragments began to glow at her words, and started to float above the floor. Nightmare Moon wasn't looking nearly as confident as before.

Twilight gestured to the orange pony who wore a cowpoke's hat on her yellow mane. "Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of, Honesty!"

An Element's shards, glowing orange, flew over and began circling Applejack.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of, Kindness!" Shards glowing pink began to circle the yellow and pink pegasus hovering above.

A bright pink mare with a poofy mane was next. "Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of, Laughter!"

Pinkie was bouncing up and down as she received her glowing blue shards.

"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of, Generosity!"

The white unicorn in question looked bashful at the praise as purple shards indicated Twilight was still choosing wisely.

Now Twilight came to the last member of the party, a pegasus with a rainbow mane. "And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of, Loyalty!"

In direct contrast to her Rarity, Rainbow looked quite smug about being chosen by the red shards.

"The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!" Twilight declared.

"You still don't have the sixth Element!" Nightmare Moon protested. "The spark didn't work!

"But it did, a different kind of spark." Twilight turned to face the other five ponies once more. "I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me, when I realized that you all, are my friends!

A bright light shone down on them from above, and a new stone Element descended to float above Twilight. The light it emitted was blindingly bright, and Nightmare Moon was forced to shield her eyes with a wing, though none of the others were bothered.

"You see Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the, the Spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth Element, the Element of Magic!"

With more flashes of light, each of the five shattered Elements reformed as a golden necklace worn by the pony who represented it, and decorated with a gem that matched its Bearer's Cutie Mark. The Element of Magic became a large tiara crowned by a six-point star, and rested on Twilight's head.

The six Bearers were lifted into the air by the power of the shining Elements and a Rainbow of Light burst forth. The beam of ancient magic swirled around the corrupted Princess of the Night, who screamed in denial that she would be defeated once again. Her cries were for naught however, as she was quickly engulfed by the power of the Elements.

The light filled the entire palace, and as the power flowing through the Elements reached it's peak, each of the Bearers fell unconscious.

"Uhh, my head," Rainbow Dash complained as the group regained consciousness.

"Everypony okay?" Applejack asked as Pinkie Pie bounced to her hooves, who looked around, searching for something.

"Where's Twilight?"

* * *

When Princess Celestia arrived with the sun, it was not to the smiles of her student and her new friends. Instead, she was greeted with worry and fear for Twilight that could not be hidden by respect for the Alicorn of the Sun. Masking her own emotions, Celestia went to her weakened sister, eager to repair their family and friendship after a thousand years of separation. But as Luna awoke, her eyes turned pure white with power, and the Moon Princess spoke with a voice that echoed with the tones of prophecy.

_**"When the Gateless prepare**_

_**To destroy all the rest,**_

_**The Ten should beware,**_

_**They face a new test.**_

_**Five become one,**_

_**A Spark will ignite,**_

_**For the student of the sun,**_

_**Who brought back the light.**_

_**Born of a world with no spells,**_

**_He awakens his power.  
_**

**_An army of warriors and angels_**

**_Train him for the dark hour._**

**_Together they rise,_**

**_To face the coming fire._**

**_They search for allies,_**

**_To face the dragon's ire."_**


	2. The First Meeting

A young man clad in the armour of a Boros Guildmage burst through the back door of the cultist den. With his sword drawn, he spotted three goblins at the other entrance to the room, which he could only assume passed for a kitchen by Rakdos standards. Sounds of battle from the other side of the door told the human that the three had planned to ambush any of his comrades that came through that way.

Fortunately for him, they had been too stupid to consider an attack from the rear, and had been caught completely off guard by his entrance.

The delay in their attack gave him time to gather his energy, and the warrior mage cast *Martial Glory* with a shout. The spell's defensive enhancement blocked all their strikes with a magical shield, and his divine-powered sword made short work of them.

Having cleared the room, the mage took in his surroundings more clearly. The majority of the room was taken up by a massive fire pit, and a wooden table that would have been used for chopping meat. There were enough bloodstains in the wood to suggest the table had never been cleaned.

There was also a third door, which looked as though it led to a storage room. With his sword at the ready, the human opened the door to check for more members of the cult.

Instead he found what appeared to be a young horse, with a curiously lavender coat. The mare was bound and gagged, and was clearly frightened by him. Her abnormally large eyes conveyed the emotion quite clearly, darting back and forth as she struggled to free herself.

The Guildmage drew his hand back quickly after it was nearly hit by a horn protruding from the mare's head. He hadn't noticed it before due to it being hidden in the purple mane.

"A unicorn," he breathed, surprised. "I didn't even know there were unicorns on Ravnica. How on Earth did you get here?"

He removed his steel helm, hoping the softer features of his face would be less frightening. "Relax little one, I'm just going to remove those bindings," he said in a soothing tone.

She seemed to understand him, and held still as he carefully used his sword to slice through the rope around her legs. Then he began to work at the knot of cloth that held the gag in place.

"Seems a bit silly for them to gag you," he remarked just before removing the cloth.

As soon as she could, the unicorn spat out the wooden gag and coughed. _"Thank you,"_ she said weakly.

A stunned silence met her words, with the mage trying to understand what had just happened. Ever since he had discovered his magic he had seen many surprising things, but a talking unicorn wasn't one he had ever expected. Then just as he was beginning to regain his senses, the mare's expression turned fearful again, and she cried out, "Behind you!"

Swivelling, he saw what had frightened her; a human dressed in animal furs, conjuring a *Fireball* spell in his hands. The Boros soldier immediately recognized him from his mission briefing as the shaman leader of this den.

"Burn, burn for the glory of Rakdos!" the spellcaster shouted as his spell finished growing, and threw it at his victims.

The warrior mage reacted instantly, calling on the last mana he had for his own spell. _"Hydrosurge!"_

A massive jet of water erupted from his hand, blasting through and dispersing the *Fireball* before throwing the Rakdos shaman against the far wall.

"Hydromancy?" the soaked man spluttered, stunned but unharmed. "But you're Boros!"

His opponent remained silent as he tapped into all of the lands he could access, drawing in their mana to refill his supply. His body glowed with a mix of white, red, and blue energies as he pointed to his target and spoke one word, one word laced with power.

_"Arrest."_

Shining bands of magic quickly bound the cultist hand and foot before materializing into rune-etched cuffs. These sealed off his magic, making it impossible for him to free himself. The man struggled for a moment both physically and mentally as he tried to break the bonds, but the enchantment creating them held fast.

"Thank you again." The unicorn had gotten up while the Boros mage had been distracted. Absently, he noticed that her speaking didn't cause as much shock anymore. "That's the second time you've saved my life."

"I wouldn't have been able to stop him if you hadn't warned me in time. So thank you as well." Realizing that he was being a bit rude by not introducing himself, he looked down at her. Not because he felt that he was better than her, but simply because her head only reached the height of his chest.

"I'm Warren," he offered as he held out a hand and hoped that she understood handshakes.

She seemed a bit surprised, but offered a forehoof in return, which he clasped gently and shook. "I'm Twilight Sparkle," she replied.

"You're not from around here are you Miss Sparkle?"

She snorted. _"That's_ an understatement."

At that moment a minotaur in Boros plate armour stepped into the kitchen area. Warren immediately snapped to attention. "Captain Saul! I have captured the enemy leader!"

Saul wiped blood away from his good eye as he examined the bound shaman. After a moment he looked over the rest of the room, noticing the dead goblins, the strange looking horse, and the lack of any injuries on Warren.

"When I did not see you in the battle I feared you had run off like a coward. Rookie Guildmages often do. I am glad to see that my fears were for nought, and that the Academy's report of your skill was not exaggerated."

"How did the rest of the battle fare sir?"

"We suffered no casualties, but we were too late to save some of the prisoners. The troop is returning to the outpost, and you will meet me at three hours after midday to give a report on your part in the battle. Until then you can consider yourself off duty."

Warren smiled, as it was still early in the day. "Thank you sir. I assume the Azorius and the Golgari will deal with the prisoners and the dead?"

Saul smiled. "Let the lawmages and sewer scum deal with what the Boros leave behind, I say."

"Um, what about me?" Twilight asked before Saul could leave.

"Do what you wish," he said after a moment. "Go home, find your Simic creators. They must have some reason to make a puny horned horse able to talk." With that he left to give his report to the Azorius lawmages who had arrived to investigate the battle.

"_Puny horned horse?" _she repeated, stunned by his rudeness. "Monsters everywhere talking about Simic creators, Azorius lawmages, Boros, Golgari, Rakdos and they go about casting magic and killing each other! This entire city is _CRAZY!"_

"You know, where I come from hearing a purple unicorn talking would be a sign that _I _was the one going crazy," Warren commented. "Fortunately I've had three months to figure out I'm probably still sane, despite the fact my entire universe has been turned upside down. Oh, and I'm a human, not a monster, though the two aren't mutually exclusive."

"A human?" Twilight said, trying to recall if she had ever read about the species. "I don't think your species exists in Equestria. We do have minotaurs though."

"No humans at all? Wow. As far as I know, we're probably the most common race in the Multiverse." Warren paused as he considered something. "It's obvious that you're pretty far from home Twilight. And I know from experience that Ravnica isn't a good place to be when you're lost. Good news for you is that my teacher can probably help you get home. At the very least our place at the local Boros Garrison will be safer for you then staying out on the streets."

Twilight thought it over. He was certainly correct about the streets. After she had used the Elements of Harmony and appeared here suddenly, she could barely access her magic. When she had tried asking the very strange creatures around her for help, they had at most offered a curious look or had just ignored her. Then the three ugly creatures that Warren had killed had snatched her up. She still wasn't sure what they had been planning to do with her after tying her up, but she was certain it hadn't been anything good.

Warren had been the only one to be at all nice to her so far, so he was probably her best hope of getting back home. After all, making friends was what had helped her to defeat Nightmare Moon. Making more couldn't possibly hurt.

"Alright, lead the way." Warren nodded and began walking down the streets with Twilight easily keeping pace. A thought struck her. "Your teacher wouldn't happen to be a princess would it?"

"Hah! Not by a long shot! _He_ is my mentor in the ways of magic and being a warrior, and I hope he'll be teaching me Planeswalking soon too. His name is Gideon Jura."


End file.
